Taking aim at what he called the Trump administration's refusal to disclose ethics rules waivers, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-South Boston, announced legislation Tuesday that would require such exemptions to be reported and publicly available online.
The bill, known as the White House Ethics Transparency Act of 2017, calls for President Donald Trump's and all future administrations to disclose to the Office of Government Ethics, within 30 days, any executive branch ethics rule waivers, according to Lynch's office.
It further would require all such waivers, which the Democrat argued allow former lobbyists and industry attorneys to bypass ethic rules and work in the executive branch, to be made publicly available on the White House and OGE websites.
The legislation would pertain to waivers issued to individuals on or after Jan. 20, 2017.
Lynch said the legislation is needed given the current administration's "continuing and brazen resistance to ethics transparency" -- something which he contended impedes OGE oversight and decreases public confidence.
"While President Trump pledged to 'drain the swamp,' he has already flooded the White House and other federal agencies with former lobbyists, consultants and industry attorneys whose previous work in the private sector presents serious conflict of interest concerns," he said in a statement.
The South Boston Democrat pointed to reports that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn lobbied and consulted on behalf of foreign governments before entering the White House as an example of why it's important to require public disclosure of the administration's decisions to waive its own ethics rules for officials.
"The White House Ethics Transparency Act would do just that and ensure that the American people receive the full picture of precisely who is working behind closed doors in their government," he stressed.
Lynch's bill announcement came just one week after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration had asked OGE to withdraw a request seeking copies of ethics waivers granted to political appointees working in the White House and other federal agencies.
OGE Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. declined the request in a letter to federal agencies' ethics officers, among others, saying "public confidence in the integrity of government decision making demands no less," the newspaper reported.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, however, said in a May 26 letter to Shaub, that his agency "shares the belief that the executive branch must uphold the highest ethical standards in accordance with the law" and would voluntarily provide the information, according to reports.
Lynch joined dozens of House Democrats earlier this month in raising concerns about the Trump administration's failure to publicly disclose ethics waivers for high-ranking officials.
He was also among the Oversight Committee Democrats who sent a letter to Shaub in support of the OGE waiver copy request
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, has signed on as a co-sponsor of Lynch's legislation.